Whirlpool bath systems of the prior art are provided with a series of jets which are connected to a source of water under pressure, and are also connected to a source of air. The water to the jets is supplied by means of a water pump at a given pressure. The jets are usually of the venturi-type (as, for example, shown and described in applicant's co-pending Ser. No. 572,702, incorporated herein by reference), and as water is passed through the jets, a vacuum is created in the venturi portion of the jets, and entrains, or induces, entry of air, from a suitable side port communicating with an air source, into the water passing through the venturi.
In the prior art, the electric motor driving the water pump, located outside of the bathtub, is generally actuated by a manual actuator means located remotely from the water pump, per se, the remote manually actuated means being generally located on the bathtub wall or upper rim thereof. The remote manual actuator means is, in the prior art, connected to an air actuator conduit, this conduit, in turn, being connected directly to the pressure switch of an electric motor or to a pressure switch connected to a latching relay. The latching relay, in turn, controls the on-off position of the electric motor. The remote actuator means of the prior art may include not only an air actuator conduit between it and the pressure switch, but a compressible section, such as a bellows chamber, which when compressed, compresses the air in the air conduit leading to the pressure switch--thereby actuating the said pressure switch and pulsing the latching relay.
In the closest prior art of which applicant is aware, an axial cross-section of which is shown in FIG. 6, the remote actuator means 200 communicates with the pressure-switch. An actuator button or cap 201 is mounted, for slidable, but continuous sealing, engagement within a bore 202 of cap housing 203. The actuator cap 201 is spring-loaded by spring means 204 held between the upper collar 209 of a depending airway tube 206 and cap 201. Airway tube 206 (made of plastic) is glued to plastic cap housing 203 at 205. This entire assembly, just described, is retained within an externally threaded main housing member 210. The main housing member 210 passes through the bathtub wall 212 and is retained thereto by internally threaded nut 214 and washers 215, 216.
A flexible air tube 217 is mounted to the airway tube 206 of the actuating means 200, tube 217 communicating with a conventional pressure-actuated switch means 220.
The pressure-actuated switch means 220 of the prior art (FIG. 6) is provided with a sintered metal insert 222 or breather communicating with the air passage of air tube of tubing 217. The sintered metal insert 222 permits a very slow bleeding of air to the atmosphere.
This prior art system provides pressure equalization to the pressure-actuated switch means 220, and upon depression of the actuator button 201, still provides a compression of air within air actuator conduit because of the slow bleeding provided by the breather 222.
However, the prior art system described in FIG. 6 is relatively expensive to manufacture due to the requirement of the breather element and the gluing of plastic parts.
The present invention is designed to avoid premature triggering of the water pump, or any other device operated by a pressure switching mechanism, due to changes in ambient pressure, in a simple, less expensive way than that of the prior art just described, or other prior art known to the applicant.
This invention is further designed to be integrated with, i.e., combined with an air supply control and supply system for the jets for the purpose of using common parts and thereby effecting substantial economies in tooling and manufacturing.